Committee to Protect Journalists Condemns Belarusian NTV Closure and Accreditation Denials to Intern-News and IREX

The Committee to protect journalists condemns the recent liquidation of the NTV correspondent station and the denial to prolong accreditation to the representations of the American organizations IREX and Inter-News.

“The purposeful campaign against disloyalty, initiated by Aliaksandr Lukashenka, has reached disastrous scale and threats to cut the Belarusian publicity and the world off the knowledge about the repressive actions of the regime”, -- stated the CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. “Lukashenka and his bureaucrats must understand that their actions will result in negative international resonance. He and his administration must immediately stop persecution of independent press.”

The CPJ Executive Committee pointed out that the continuing assault on the free press started in the end of 2002, and the pressure has recently increased. Several independent editions, including the “Navinki”, “Ekho” and “Predprinimatelskaya Gazeta”, “Vecherniy Stolin” and “Provintsialka” were closed almost simultaneously.

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